บท 30: Chapter 30: The End of Betrayal Is Always…
Aaarghhhh!"
Blood splattered across the office floor. Heo Ki-hoon howled in pain, and the faces of the others darkened.
Ah, except for Byeon Seong-ho, who was still sprawled on the floor, oblivious.
"You bastard, still trying to sow discord? Saying Sa-seong hyungnim ordered it?"
Park Dong-su wiped the blood from his eyes with the back of his hand and glared at the other two.
"You guys retire too. I can't cover for you anymore. Not planning to say who ordered this, are you?"
"It's true Sa-seong hyungnim dropped by. We asked for his permission, said we'd take care of the job."
"Right, we'll just retire… please let us go."
Just then, the youngest member who was keeping watch outside burst in shouting,
"Detective Park's here!"
Park Dong-su handed the knife to Yang Suhyeong, saying,
"You said Sa-seong hyungnim gave permission, right? If you're lying, you're really dead. Got it?"
Park Dong-su warned in a chilling voice as Hyeon-seong's father entered.
Seeing the state of the office, Hyeon-seong's father exclaimed in shock,
"What the hell!"
Noticing the blood flowing down my arm, he rushed over.
"Mu-hyeok, are you alright? Which bastard did this to you?"
"It's just a scratch."
"Good Lord, with all that blood? Doesn't it hurt?"
The gangsters, including Park Dong-su and his men, were shocked by Hyeon-seong's father's unusual behavior.
After examining me for a while, Hyeon-seong's father turned with a menacing aura and barked at the gangsters,
"Hey! Park Dong-su, you bastard! Didn't I tell you not to mess with Mu-hyeok? You really want to eat prison food again?"
"No, Detective, how could I mess with Mu-hyeok? He's not the type to be swayed by anyone."
Park Dong-su protested with an aggrieved expression. He looked genuinely wronged.
"Hah… But what's with this mess? Why is Gi-hun rolling around clutching his leg? What's going on? Seong-ho, Seok-i, Byeong-su too? All the Busan boys gathered here for what?"
"We just called Mu-hyeok down to Busan for a nice meal, you know? But suddenly they came at me with knives. I couldn't just let them stab me, could I?"
"This is beyond what I can cover up."
Hyeon-seong's father shook his head with a sigh, as if he had a headache.
I slipped in between the two and said,
"Father, could I have a word with you?"
"Hey, Mu-hyeok! Why aren't you thinking about going to the hospital? Go to the hospital first!"
"It's not a serious injury. Anyway, let's talk inside first…"
As I kept looking at him, Hyeon-seong's father sighed and followed me into the inner office.
"This place is a mess too. It's really fortunate you weren't hurt worse. Really fortunate."
We stood near the relatively clean desk and started talking.
"I'd like all of Park Dong-su's opponents arrested. How high up in the prosecution do you think we need to go for that to happen?"
"Prosecution… Maybe the head prosecutor of the violent crimes division? Why? What are you planning with Dong-su?"
"I need some muscle in Seoul. So a head prosecutor-level would do it, right?"
"If the prosecutor doesn't make an issue of it, the job's easy."
Right there, I immediately called Chief Prosecutor Yoon.
"It's Mu-hyeok. Chief Prosecutor, I'm calling because I have a favor to ask."
– A favor?
"There's been an incident in Busan. Do you have a prosecutor who follows your orders well? Preferably someone high-ranking…"
– Busan? That's easy. Wait, I'll have someone contact you.
"Thank you, Chief Prosecutor."
– Why so formal between us?
"Haha, I'll visit you when I'm in Seoul."
– Alright, let's do that.
After hanging up, I looked at Hyeon-seong's father.
"Father, why don't you wrap things up outside? I'll arrange everything with the prosecution so we can coordinate. I'm sorry for asking this of you…"
Hyeon-seong's father waved his hand dismissively and said,
"It's fine, it's not the first time I've cleaned up after you guys. What's there to be sorry about? Before you go to Seoul, let's have a meal together. With Grandma and Myeong-su's family too."
"Okay."
"And… don't get too mixed up with gangsters. I know you have your reasons, but I won't say much. Just know that hardly anyone who gets involved with gangsters ends up well."
I just nodded.
When we went back to the office, Park Dong-su and the others' eyes turned to us.
Hyeon-seong's father, still exasperated by the situation, kept clicking his tongue.
"Sheesh… Take it easy, will you? Some of you need to go to the hospital first, not the police station. Let's see… Where's the phone, Dong-su?"
"Father, my phone…"
"Cut it out, why use such an expensive phone?"
Hyeon-seong's father, back in his role as Detective Park, picked up the phone on the office desk and dialed somewhere.
Shortly after, Detective Park's team members entered.
"Oh my~ Detective, what's going on here?"
"Stop the nonsense and get to work. Jjang-gu, you take the ones who need the hospital. I'll handle the rest. Let's wrap this up quickly."
"Yes!"
"Oh, and don't touch Dong-su's boy."
"What?"
"It's all sorted with the prosecution. Hurry up and clean this mess!"
The detectives separated the men and led them outside.
"Mu-hyeok, see you later."
"Yes, take care, Father."
"And Dong-su."
"Yes, Detective."
Hyeon-seong's father glared at Park Dong-su with a displeased face.
"Watch yourself. If anything happens to Mu-hyeok, I'll make sure you never get out of prison. You understand?"
"Yes, I got it."
"Tch."
Clicking his tongue once more, Hyeon-seong's father walked out.
After the detectives had taken away the main culprits and their gang, only Park Dong-su's men remained.
"Take the injured guys to the hospital, then buy the rest some food before sending them to the lodgings. Give them some pocket money too."
"Yes, hyungnim!"
Yang Suhyeong left with the men.
Only I, Park Dong-su, and Lee Sang-geun remained in the office.
"Sigh… Sa-seong hyungnim gave the order? I don't know if I should believe this."
"Boss, why don't you check the facts first?"
Park Dong-su stared silently at Lee Sang-geun's face as he answered.
"Sigh… I guess we have a lot to talk about too, huh?"
Sighing heavily, Park Dong-su turned to me.
"Mu-hyeok, I'm a mess today. I'll contact you in a few days. Sorry about this."
"…Alright."
"Go on now. I need to have a chat with this lawyer here and clean up. See you next time."
"Okay."
And so, without achieving my goal, I left Park Dong-su's office and headed home.
* * *
With Kim Mu-hyeok gone, Park Dong-su nd Lee Sang-geun, left alone, found intact chairs to sit on.
"Hey! Since when have you been carrying around a sashimi knife? Your knife skills are no amateur's."
"Um… Since I left the orphanage, that's how I lived. Somehow I ended up passing the bar exam and becoming a lawyer."
"Why didn't you say anything? It's just the two of us here. You're not hiding a knife on your ankle, are you? I didn't give permission for this. It's a matter of trust between us."
Park Dong-su, staring at Lee Sang-geun's face with a serious expression, rubbed his forehead.
"Choose your words carefully. Otherwise, one of us is leaving this room dead today. I'm in a really shitty mood…"
"I didn't feel the need to tell you, Boss. I've never had ill intentions towards you. When you first came to me, I asked if you'd help me make a lot of money, remember?"
"…"
Their eyes met in silence.
Lee Sang-geun lowered his eyes first, bowing his head.
"I need money. I have a lot of kids to take care of. To feed them, I had to toughen up."
Lee Sang-geun drew out the sashimi knife he was carrying and handed it to Park Dong-su.
Park Dong-su took it and silently stared at Lee Sang-geun.
"If you're uncomfortable with me carrying a sashimi knife, you can cripple me with it right now. But… you'll have to take responsibility for me till the end."
Lee Sang-geun's eyes were resolute.
Park Dong-su, who had been silently staring at the sashimi knife, handed it back to him and said,
"Forget it. The problem was you not telling me. I've never thought badly of you while working together, so from now on, tell me everything. I don't want to go through this again…"
"Yes, Boss."
"You called me 'hyungnim' so well earlier. Keep calling me that. In front of others, call me 'Boss,' got it?"
"Yes, hyungnim."
The office fell silent again.
Park Dong-su, lost in thought with a bitter expression, suddenly asked,
"What do you think? Did Sa-seong hyungnim really try to set me up? I just can't understand it. I've been taking care of him in prison and looking after his family. How could he do this to me? Did I do something wrong?"
Park Dong-su's voice trembled slightly as he lamented.
"May I share my thoughts?"
As Park Dong-su nodded, Lee Sang-geun carefully began to speak.
"I don't think he gave the order directly from prison. More likely, someone plotted this while creating a pretext. However…"
"Don't worry about my feelings. Keep talking."
"If we leave Lee Sa-seong like this, we can't guarantee that another group like Heo Ki-hoon's won't emerge. Even your lenient handling so far might have made them underestimate you and act."
"Hmm."
Park Dong-su nodded, unable to deny Lee Sang-geun's words, having realized something from this incident.
"You need to make a decision. You need to be more resolute. Embrace those you can, but for those you need to eliminate, make sure they're completely incapacitated, unable to even think of acting against you."
"Damn… Why did Sa-seong hyungnim fall for such a plot and hurt me like this?"
"…"
When Park Dong-su first said he'd take care of Lee Sa-seong in prison, despite his brothers' objections, even taking responsibility for his family… he never expected it to backfire like this.
No…
Maybe he knew but chose to ignore it.
That the era of romanticism was already over…
Park Dong-su shook his head as if trying to shake off his thoughts.
"Well, that's that. Phew~ When are we going to clean this place up and sit properly? I wanted to have a chat with my little bro Mu-hyeok after so long, but how can I face him now?"
"Ha ha."
"You saw earlier too, right? How he beat the crap out of Seong-ho. You know what he said to me when we first met…"
As Park Dong-su started bragging about Kim Mu-hyeok again, Lee Sang-geu sighed.
* * *
That evening
I received a call on my cell phone.
It was from someone who said they'd been contacted by Chief Prosecutor Yoon, asking what they needed to do.
I arranged to meet briefly near my home.
"Hello, I'm Kim Mu-hyeok."
The prosecutor who showed up silently acknowledged my greeting and asked bluntly as soon as he sat down,
"What do you need me to do?"
His curt tone, different from what I expected, conveyed his annoyance.
"By any chance… which university did you graduate from?"
"Is that important right now?"
It seemed Chief Prosecutor Yoon had just ordered him to handle this without proper explanation.
I put on a polite smile.
"I'm from Korea University, Law School, class of '93. I was wondering if you might be my senior."
"Oh, really? So you're a junior."
His previously rigid face softened a bit at the mention of Korea University.
"I'm not sure how Chief Yoon explained this to you, but… it shouldn't be bad news for you, senior."
"Hmm…"
"If you handle this case well, I'll do my best to ensure good news comes your way."
"Let's hear it then."
I explained thoroughly, omitting what needed to be omitted and including what needed to be included.
After hearing everything, the prosecutor smirked as if understanding why he'd been called.
"Ha, this is something I should do even without compensation. Properly rounding up gangsters and putting them behind bars? But you want me to leave out the other side?"
"Yes, things are settled with the police. You'll need to work with Detective Park, the violent crimes unit leader at Jungbu Police Station. They said they couldn't proceed without the prosecutor's cooperation."
"That's right, the police can't handle cases as they please without the prosecutor's direction. Alright, I'll give it a shot."
"Thank you."
After that, we chatted a bit about school and parted ways.
Before leaving, I promised to treat him to a proper drink in Seoul.
When I saw him off, it was already dark outside.
I let out a long sigh.
It was a day that made me keenly feel the need for someone like Chief Ha as my right-hand man.
* * *
A few days later, I got a call from Park Dong-su.
The place I went to was a pojangmacha in Jagalchi.
"Little bro! Over here!"
As I opened the tent flap and poked my head in, Park Dong-su, sitting inside, spotted me and waved.
I greeted Park Dong-su with a smile and went inside to sit down.
"I'm sorry about last time. I didn't know those bastards would act up right then."
"It's fine."
I shook my head briefly and brought up the business I couldn't finish last time.
"You said you're almost done wrapping things up in Busan, right?"
"That's right…"
"You need to finish up quickly and move into Seoul, but when do you think you'll be done?"
"Once I clean up the Haeundae area, that's pretty much it. After that, I can leave it to two trusted brothers to manage. But why?"
Park Dong-su poured me a shot of soju.
I took a sip of the offered drink and slowly opened my mouth.
"Before that, let's deal with Lee Sa-seong first."
Park Dong-su's face, which had been grinning, hardened.
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